Amboy teachers suspended

AMBOY – Two Amboy Junior High School teachers were suspended Monday after school and sheriff’s officials say they concocted a bogus story of a home invasion to cover up a fight that got physical.

Clayton M. Bonnell, 28, of Dixon, and Suzanne A. Boyer, 37, of Amboy, were arrested Friday night. He is charged with obstruction of justice and aggravated domestic battery; she is charged with obstruction of justice. All charges are felonies.

Bonnell is free after posting $10,000 bail, while Boyer posted $1,000. Both have a Feb. 15 court appearance.

According to deputies:

Mendota Community Hospital staff called deputies Jan. 21. Boyer, who was being treated for injuries, said someone had come into her home in the 400 block of Main Street through the open garage and pushed her down the stairs from behind, injuring her head.

Boyer didn’t see the person, she said, and she drove herself to the hospital.

Bonnell said he followed Boyer to MCH after finding her at the bottom of the steps. He told deputies that Boyer had called him to come over and look at her snowblower, which she was using before she was pushed.

During the investigation, though, “things were not adding up,” Sheriff John Varga said.

Friday, Bonnell confessed to pushing Boyer down the stairs during an argument, and when confronted, Boyer admitted it, too, Varga said.

According to the Amboy Schools website, Boyer is a dean at the junior high and also teaches health, while Bonnell teaches sixth-grade language arts and health relations.

Both are suspended with pay pending an investigation by the district, Superintendent Jeff Thake said.

Boyer has been with the district 8 years and Bonnell 5 years, Thake said.

Attempts to reach Boyer and Bonnell were unsuccessful Monday.